Russia Plans to Restore Minsk Landing Ship

29 January, 2024 The landing ship Minsk after being hit on September 13, 2023. Photo credits: Crimean Wind Russians plan to start restoring the Ropucha-class landing ship Minsk, previously damaged by a Ukrainian strike.

Sources from the Russian TASS news agency said that the restoration should begin in 2024. "The ship is at the quay wall, its superstructure is damaged. Repairs will begin this year, the relevant decision has been made," the source said.

However, the Russian media has no official confirmation of this information. As previously reported, the possibility of repairing the landing ship Minsk was being considered. This involved using Kostiantyn Olshansky landing ship's superstructure, which has the same design.

This ship belonged to Ukraine before the war.

Landing ship Kostiantyn Olshansky captured by the Russians. Photo credits: Dumskaya

In 2014, after the occupation of Crimea by Russia, the Ukrainian military left about 20 ships on the peninsula, including the landing ship Kostiantyn Olshansky. It is worth noting that on September 13, 2023, the landing ship Minsk was severely damaged by a missile strike, and its restoration will be a difficult task for the Russians.

On that day, Ukraine launched a cruise missile attack on the Sevastopol Shipyard, where the landing ship Minsk and the submarine Rostov-on-Don were undergoing repairs. The ship received a serious hole in the port side in the superstructure area. The landing ship Minsk then burned from the moment it was hit until the afternoon.

The hull of the landing ship Minsk in Sevastopol, October 31, 2023.

Photo credits: MT Anderson/X

The attack on the Russian submarine and landing ship at Sevastopol was presumably carried out by French-British SCALP/Storm Shadow cruise missiles launched by Ukrainian Air Force aircraft. The missiles struck the targets from above, and the substantial size of the holes suggests the detonation of a powerful warhead, which is characteristic of modern cruise missiles in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

SCALP EG missile under the wing of the Ukrainian Su-24M bomber. August 2023.

Frame from the Ihor Smilyanskyi`s video

As previously reported, France will supply Ukraine with 40 new SCALP EG long-range cruise missiles and "hundreds of bombs."